Midlife Women Online: Evaluation of an Internet-Based Program to Prevent Unintended Pregnancy & STIs

Background: Midlife women are an underserved population in the areas of unintended pregnancy and STI prevention yet remain at risk for both health conditions. Methods: A randomized controlled trial of an Internet-based multimedia program to reduce risk of unintended pregnancy and STIs among midlife women was conducted with 164 women ages 40–55 years of age. Results: Women in the treatment condition compared to the control condition reported significant gains in attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions at posttest. Conclusion: Interventions specifically targeted to midlife women can impact constructs known to reduce risk. Implications for future research and intervention development are presented.     

Relationship power,decision making,and sexual relations: An exploratory study with couples of Mexican origin

This study explored how couples of Mexican origin define power in intimate relationships, what makes men and women feel powerful in relationships, and the role of each partner in decision making about sexual and reproductive matters. Interviews were conducted with each partner of 39 sexually active couples and data were analyzed using content analysis. Results indicate that power is perceived as control over one's partner and the ability to make decisions. Women say they feel more powerful in relationships when they make unilateral decisions and have economic independence. Men feel powerful when they have control over their partner and bring home money. Respondents agreed that women make decisions about household matters and children, while men make decisions related to money. Findings indicate that whereas couples share decision making about sexual activities and contraceptive use, men are seen as initiators of sexual activity and women are more likely to suggest condom use.     

Effects of mandatory notification training on the tendency to report hypothetical cases of child abuse and neglect

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of mandated notification training upon the tendency of individuals to report hypothetical cases of abuse and neglect. A second objective was to investigate the factors that influence the decision to report and to determine whether mandated notification training had an effect on these factors. Comparisons were drawn between a no training and a recent training group (with random allocation). An additional group of participants who had received training some time ago was included. Five hypothetical vignettes were responded to by 41 teachers and school personnel who had recently completed training, 31 people who had not completed training and 73 people who had completed training some years previously. Where the quality of evidence of abuse and thus suspicion of abuse was relatively high, there were no differences in the likelihood of reporting between trained and untrained participants, all of whom were very likely to report. Ambiguous evidence of abuse had a strong negative influence on reporting likelihood, although mandatory reporting training reduced this inhibition. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"Are they still having sex?" STI's and unintended pregnancy among mid-life women

Research has shown that women remain sexually active throughout mid-life and into the post-menopausal years. Recent data reveal that significant numbers of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and unintended pregnancies occur among mid-life women. Data on STI prevalence indicate several STIs have relatively high rates among women over age 30, including HIV and HSV-2. Racial/ethnic disparities in STI prevalence between mid-life African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women have also been noted. Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth reveal 51% of pregnancies among women 40 and older are unintended. Both STIs and unintended pregnancy can result in serious health consequences for mid-life women. STIs can result in pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy can result in increased morbidity and mortality to the woman and the fetus. Mid-life women are also highly likely to go through relationship transitions (e.g., separation, divorce) and the subsequent initiation of new sexual relationships. As a result, these women are at elevated risk of STIs and unintended pregnancy. Despite these realities, there is a lack of programs addressing these two health issues among mid-life women and the unique life circumstances of women at this stage of life. The authors assert there is a compelling need for interventions to reduce STIs and unintended pregnancy in this population of women, review the literature regarding STIs and unintended pregnancy in mid-life women, identify gaps in current resources, and make recommendations for health care practice and future research.     

Construction of Social Reality During Early Adolescence: Can Expecting Storm and Stress Increase Real or Perceived Storm and Stress?

This study examines whether mothers' or adolescents' expectations concerning “storm and stress” behaviors at adolescence predict subsequent real or perceived adolescent behavior and attributes during the early years of adolescence. The study used a short‐term longitudinal design. Participants were 6th‐ and 7th‐grade adolescents and their mothers (N=270 families). Data were collected via telephone interviews and questionnaires at 2 time points approximately 1 year apart. Results indicated that adolescents' expectations for risk‐taking/rebelliousness and for alienation and mothers' expectations for risk‐taking/rebelliousness predicted increases in corresponding adolescent‐reported outcomes over the 1‐year period. Results are most consistent with the possibility of perceptual biases with respect to storm and stress behaviors, but could indicate the existence of self‐fulfilling prophecies, particularly for risk‐taking/rebelliousness.     

Perfumer,chemist, machine: gas chromatography and the industrial search to “improve” flavor

Abstract

Drawing from published accounts of the use of gas chromatography (GC) in the food industry, found in industry-specific journals, this article examines the role of GC in changing how perfumers and flavorists think about and shape the sense-able world. It shows that the development of a novel twist on GC – the use of an expert’s nose as a detecting device directly connected to the exit gasses of the gas chromatograph, rather than an instrumental detector – opened the door to a new way of categorizing aromatic molecules that changed the purpose of expert practices of smelling within the industrial context. The marriage of human and machine not only offered those tasked with developing the perfect flavor the tools for gaining information about what aspects of a flavor they wished to keep, it also helped identify what aspects they ought to discard or obfuscate in their search to improve the natural world of tastes and smells.     

Four case studies to highlight some opportunities and challenges in developing anti‐bacterial and anti‐fungal agents

Since the first properly randomized control trial of streptomycin for pulmonary tuberculosis in the late 1940s, society has made great advances in combating bacterial infections and in developing vaccines to prevent such infections. One constant challenge that anti‐bacterial clinical development must grapple with is to determine the potential benefit of newer agents over existing agents, in an era when anti‐bacterial resistance is a constantly shifting target. By contrast, the development of anti‐fungal agents went into high gear only in the late 1980s and early 1990s in an effort to manage fungal infections in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, especially in patients with haematologic malignancies, bone marrow transplantation, or lymphoma. The pursuit of anti‐fungal agents intensified with the AIDS epidemic. The evaluation of anti‐fungal agents often faces complications brought on by competing risks in situations where the underlying infections are associated with a high chance of mortality or severe morbidity. In this paper, we use four case studies to illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities in developing anti‐bacterial and anti‐fungal agents. The illustrations touch on not only statistical issues, but also issues related to the availability of new anti‐bacterials in the future. Some suggestions on how statisticians could take advantage of the opportunities and answer to the challenges are also included. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Formal Polity and Power Distribution in American Protestant Denominations*

The purpose of this paper was to determine whether differences in religious denominations' formal polity structures (i.e., congregational, presbyterian, and episcopal patterns) contribute to vertical power differentials among their structural levels. Formal polity structure was measured as authority of local churches to hire and fire their ministers. Data from 26 Protestant denominations suggest a relationship between formal polity and the power distribution which was operationalized as the location of the pastoral placement bureau. This relationship was obtained independent of such important variables as size, administrative specialization, and bureaucratic formalization. The findings suggest that when studying power distributions, especially in purposive organizations, constitutionally defined and normatively shaped aspects of organizational polity (i.e., formal polity structures) should be taken into account.